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SHOREDITCH, LONDON – I was interested to see the ‘Art of the Brick’ exhibition in Shoreditch earlier this year after seeing several posters on the London underground with this image on it.

I was really intrigued at how someone could create such striking images with LEGO bricks that were playful but also beautiful.

The artist is New Yorker Nathan Sawaya a former attorney and the first artist to take LEGO into the art world. He worked for LEGO for six months as a LEGO artist starting in 2004 and then left to open his own art studio in the same year.

He’s been so successful that he’s turned the hobby into a full time job and gets exhibited around the world.

This exhibition has been exceptionally popular in London and as it involves LEGO, it attracts a lot of kids and families… if you want to experience this exhibit in quiet go during kid unfriendly hours.

Although I must say, I think a lot of the children get excited after seeing this exhibition as they realise what potential there is in a little LEGO brick. And so after you leave the gallery area, you pass through the gift shop which has plenty of LEGO to simply play with or purchase.

And in case you’re wondering why he uses LEGO, here’s what Nathan Sawaya had to say: “I like using LEGO bricks as a medium because I enjoy seeing people’s reaction to artwork created from something with which they are familiar. …My goal is to elevate this simple plaything to a place it has never been before. I also appreciate the cleanliness of the LEGO® brick. The right angles. The distinct lines. But, from a distance, those right angles and distinct lines offer new perspectives, changing to curves.”